Friday/Saturday October 7/8 Sunday morning

So the last two and one half days have been unremitting, mainly non-touristy, things to do. We got up early in Krumlov and headed back south toward Austria. Trusting nuvi on this trip, we directed her to find the Melk Abbey by the fastest and shortest route. Expecting to head south by highway, we soon found ourselves heading SE like a hound after a fox. Over hill and dale and through the cow patch, over creeks, on one (maybe not that big) lane roads we saw parts of Austria we bet even some Austrians have never seen (or wanted to), and certainly not the standard tourist visit. Gorgeous hills, prosperous farms, and green velvet fresh growing fields met our eye each time we topped a steep hill before we fell down the side into sharp little tree covered valleys “Turn left in 1.3 km, turn right in 700 meters” – we did it all; some roads had no name but were simply called “gutter weg” or “good road”- questionable as we truly worked the car’s suspension and brakes. Mark was lamenting not having the TT while I held on for dear life. Oh my, we did make it to the Abbey in relatively good time, but…hmmm…next time we may change the directions to something slow and steady.
Melk Benedictine Abbey has been substantially fixed up in the past 10 years – they sold their original Gutenberg Bible to Yale to finance the reconstruction. In existence since the 500s, in its current form pretty much since the 11th century, with Baroque additions added where parts were destroyed by fire in the 1700s, we toured through the artwork on display, parts of its massive library, and its glorious church. Throughout the Abbey, the Benedictine ideas are painted on walls and carved in stone, honoring law, medicine, theology, philosophy, wisdom, justice, fortitude and recycling. The overall arching theme here was that victory is not achieved unless the battle was just…or something like that. The size of the library was impressive – at a time when knowledge is power and few could read, the books symbolized a lot of power! Down the spiral staircases and back to the car.
Then we took off down the Wachau Valley of the Danube into Vienna. The Wachau Valley was pretty much hidden by rain, but looked to be a cross between the Mosel and the Rhein … vineyards with a more commercial air. We stopped briefly in Durnstein, a very small town near Krems which looked lovely. Almost inaccessible by road, we didn’t realize we were driving on bike paths to get into it…blame it, again, on nuvi…they looked like the roads we’d been on for the last 2 hours! Durnstein was lovely with its little cobblestone streets but, alas, it has been overrun by the large tourist boats, 2 of which were arriving just as we did. Each cute little store was setting out its Stuerm bottles and knick-knacks. We quickly left before the hordes could crush us. Stuerm, by the way, is Austria’s version of the early just pressed wine (federweissen) we had in Germany, only now after 2-3 weeks it is developing some kick…lovely stuff and we get it every chance we can.
We pulled into Vienna and Martine found us and drove us back to her apartment for a pre-dinner drink. They have a lovely hardwood floor furnished place that is in a building hundreds of years old - 3 big rooms plus kitchen and bathroom – 14 foot ceilings. Apparently the owner died about 18 months ago, which they didn’t know. They pay rent into his account and they figure someone is collecting it as they hadn’t been kicked out yet. After some fun conversation, we took off for Sven’s, a very small restaurant that probably wouldn’t/couldn’t be found by anyone without the proper compass and secret password. Tremendous inexpensive local (read pork and dumplings) food. A tram ride home and sleep.
Woke up early Saturday with plans to do lots of touristy things…total failure of plans. Instead, we shopped and bought ourselves some new bedding, pillows, comforters, duvet covers etc. Then had to go buy another suitcase to get it all home…the dogs will like the feathers, as do we. Went wandering through the Naschtmarkt and found this marvelous stall that sells all different types of vinegar. Pomegranate was my favorite, with asparagus and black current running close in the competition. Met Jarred and Martine again and walked all over town, found a great little restaurant again (Wickerl), watched a bit of the Missouri Kansas State football game and then took off into the night to walk home across a busy town at midnight. Ah, sleep, perchance to dream.
Got up this morning to play tourist, just a bit. First went to the Hofburg Chapel to listen to the Vienna Boys’ Choir – not that impressive in this locale for some reason, too few of them for the chapel? Next we went to the 11.00 high mass at the Augustine Church…conducted by the Cardinal for the area. There was a photographer documenting everything he said or did, which took some of the glory off the actions. The real reason we were there, though, was to listen to their spectacular choir and orchestral accompaniment. Wow, so beautifully done it brought tears to my eyes, made the 18 chandeliers swing in time to the music, and then we walked out and stumbled onto the Lippizaners returning to their stable across the courtyard…perfect morning as far as I was concerned. Topped it off with a brief snack at Demels, a café sweet shop with a history centuries long. We had a vanilla crème schnitte (think napolean with Bavarian cream), a milk custard strudel, hot chocolate and a hot wild berry rum punch (oh yeah!). Off to sleep it off. Meeting Martine and Jared for a trip to the wineries this afternoon….as usual, more later.